Microwave time

The Antarctica book talks about how starved for stimulation people get when wintering over. In particular they start reading the ingredients list on cereal boxes and canned food and so on. Yet at the same time hectic non-important importance of civilization seems so distant to them.

Back in Portland I remember the time when Christine complained that "our microwave is too slow". I didn't know how to react. Is there something faster than a microwave?

Recently however I realized a thing I was doing subconsciously. If I wanted to cook something for a minute, I'd set the timer for two minutes. I'd open the door when the first minute was up and cancel the rest. I'd say to myself "right, that was going to take two minutes but I did it in one. I just saved an extra minute that I can use to do something important".